Interesting example:
http://blog.europeandomaincentre.com/best-new-tld/#
The new TLDs work for some, and not so much for others, but it's something that's here to stay. Corporations, startups thru SMB and Enterprise, are adapting and migrating for a number of reasons, most notably because some of them just make good sense from a branding perspective, others because of the balance and compromise on price, suitability vs availability, for their specific business needs. Especially Startups who have yet to spend a dime of either time or finance in developing their awareness and brand building campaigns, it's a fresh start and clean slate.
Do most want the dot com, hell yea, but even then there are businesses which have the dot com and still opt for the newTLD alternative that meets their particular purpose.
One of the biggest catapults propelling the transition to new TLDs are the many domainers having absolutely no clue on a real valuation model, subsequently, pricing themselves right out of contention and leaving proprietors, CEOs and their boards to examine the possibilities of incorporating alternatives.
You want to start increasing the potential of selling .com portfolios, start getting realistic valuation models and pricing domains accordingly. I'm not talking about blue chips, I'm talking about the domains that most businesses would be happy acquiring for practical usage, at reasonable prices. The way it is right now, if a small business has the opportunity to buy the .com for $20k to $40,000 or a good dot alternative for reg fee/ a couple of grand, I assure you that most will go for the alternative given the ridiculous asking prices of many greedy and clueless domainers.
It's no longer a case of limited options and legalized extortion. Time for people to wake up, get realistic and make this a business, not a get rich quick fart in the wind.
IMO...but what do I know, I'm just a smoking chimp who jgot home at 3am with a belly full of booze, that happened to make the mistake of keeping his browser open on Namepros. I should've just passed out!